Part 1
A Chariot Sub-System, Ostensibly for His Majesty the Worm
Category
HMtW, Mortal Now You Are God
The whole thing plays out dramatically as a well-to-do nobleman offers to buy the stolen loot off the band of miscreants that make up the main character’s party, at nearly double the going rate, if only the bandit king would be willing to ride in the Sagare with the nobleman’s specially bred team of horses. It was a web of motives: The Nobleman could care less for the money, he is jockeying for social status, he wants the fame and prestige of having provided for a winning team; the bandit king claims he is doing it to get a good price on the stolen goods, but it becomes clear he is mad for the thrill and glory of the games; the mentor is only involved to keep himself engaged in the sport he loves and to see his rival crushed into the sand, and the main character feels she needs to ride as his lovers archer because if she does not then he will die.
This inspired me to finally get around to watching Ben-Hur (1959) to see how the chariot race there is depicted. Both Ben-Hur and The Birthgrave touch on similar themes of celebrity and godhood, especially on the fickleness of fortune and fame. I also came away with this interesting impression that the chariot races, whether in the Circus of Rome or the Sagare, are largely portrayed as duels between two individuals. The rest of the racers are color and obstacles to the real race between the Hero and the Villain (hell, even Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) touched on this aspect). Therefore I was inspired to create this subsystem for two reasons: First, because chariot racing is cool as hell. Humanity created chariots and for nigh on five millenia it was the fastest any human could move themselves until we created the steam engine. I grew up on NASCAR, we midwest boys have a need for speed. And Second, to explore more and different ways that humans in His Majesty the Worm can engage with their rivals (as well as the City at large).
This is the first part of possible adventure suppliment to facilitate chariot racing at everyone’s table. I drew heavy inspiration from the To Be Resolved blog and how my friend there is developing their own surveying ttrpg using poker as the basis to resolve tasks. You can find more on this system here and to their analysis of poker hand distributions here.
The Quadrigarium of the Hippodrome:
A poker hand consists of seven cards. So too are there seven racers in the Quadrigarium. However, a race, in reality, is a duel. Only two racers, our Duelists, really matter: The Adventurers and the Rival. The rest are obstacles, distractions, fodder, tools to be used in the pursuit of what really matters in the Hippodrome: Victory, Revenge, and Godhood. The highest poker hand between the Duelists determines who is in the lead for that lap and, on the seventh and final lap, who wins.
The Duelists each have their own hand, one controlled by the players and one controlled by the GM in place of the Rival. The Duelists begin the race with only two cards. The other five cards that make up the poker hand begin as communal cards which cannot be manipulated. Each communal card represents a racer from the far flung reaches of the world who thinks themselves a champion. However, this is not their story; their story ends as a smashed body in the bloody sands. The Duelists can spend a pair of matching cards from their hand to temporarily knock out a racer for the next lap, or spend two pairs to permanently knock a racer out for the rest of the race. Knocking a racer out of the race removes one communal card from the table and allows the Duelists to instead draw a card to their respective hands instead. The communal card returns to the next round unless the knockout is permanent. Additionally, a Duelist may spend a pair of matching cards to make the temporary removal of a racer by another Duelist permanent. Spending cards in this, or any other way, removes those cards from consideration for determining who leads any given lap. Communal cards may be spend by either of the Duelists and are afterwards removed from play as normal.
Only cards in the hand of the Duelists can be manipulated. Each Duelist starts the race with 7 Resolve which can be used to change the value or suite of any card in the Duelists’ own hand. Each Duelist may spend a Resolve by Taxing a part of their chariot team. A chariot team consists of 7 Taxable parts: the quadriga of horses (each being Taxed individually), the charioteer, the archer, and the chariot itself. Which part of the team is being taxed is largely a narrative concern - describing how the Duelists are jockeying for position. However, Duelists may target parts of the chariot team to hinder their ability to spend resolve as each part of a chariot team can only be Taxed once.
Fate resolves itself in funny ways upon the sands of the Hippodrome. It is expected in the Quadrigarium for Acts of the Gods to result in accidents. Most instances of treachery on the tracks are explained as such. A Duelist may target another Duelist by spending a five card hand (i.e. a straight, flush, full house, straight flush or a royal flush) to damage their chariot team in some way. Typically this means a harsh but recoverable injury. A three of a kind from a defending duelist can be spent to negate an effect through sheer luck, but a four of a kind results in a twist of fate that instead inflicts the wound upon the attacking Duelist. Explicit targeting of the team is typically illegal, however, Acts of the Gods can be explained away as long as it looks plausible. Archers typically special rope-tipped arrows, or other fanciful devices to hinder opponents for this purpose. All archers carry a barbed arrow, but this is never discussed. If a Deulist manages to win the final lap of the race with a five-card hand, they can choose to disable the other Duelist’s chariot in a suitably dramatic way.
Cheating is expected but only tolerated if you can get away with it. Any Duelist (and their supporting team) may spend any amount of additional resolve by Cheating. Any Duelist must narratively describe how they are cheating and then Test Fate (for His Majesty the Worm, otherwise a relevant system skill check) to determine if they are caught or not. To add to the dramatics, each Duelist is immediately aware of the other's cheating, and how they are cheating, even if they get away with it. Depending on the severity, getting caught typically means a reduction in the benefits gained from winning a race, a tax on losers of a race, or disqualification.
The Quadrigarium ends after seven laps. Seven chariots. Seven laps. Seven hands of fate. A single team of mortals made into the people’s one true god… for the time being.
Procedure of play:
- Hands are dealt to each of the duelists
- All communal cards are placed at once
- The Duelists spend any desired Resolve
- The Duelists spend any desired cards
- The players will typically have the first opportunity to act but in a moment in indecisiveness the Rival may intervene first
- The hands of the Duelists are revealed and position is determined
- Tally is made of all disabled racers
- GM and the players narrate the events of the lap together
- Return to part 1 until race is finished